Motor-controlled switch for headlights of automobiles.



. S. MULVANEY & E. L. BURNER.

MOTOR CONTROLLED SWITCH FOR HEADLIGHTS 0F AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.14. 1916.

1,277,104. Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

177' 7 GENE Y5 f umrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SETH MULVANEY AND ELMO LOUIS BORNER, OF ING-LEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO EVELYN MULVANEY, OF INGLEVTOOID, CALIFORNIA.

MOTOR-CONTROLLED SWITCH FOR I-IEADLIGI ITS OF AUTOMOBILES.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A11 2'1, 1918,

Application filed August 14, 1916. Serial No. 114,765.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SETH MULVANEY and ELMO Louis BORNER, citizens of the United States, residing at Inglewood, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improve- 1 ments in Motor-Controlled Switches for- Headlights of Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric swltch and particularly pertains to an automatic switch and current control adapted to be used 111 connection with an automobile elec headlights, whereby. an automatic control.

of the headlights is obtained. During the slow speeds of the motor and while the generator electromotive force is insufficient to supply both headlights, the entire emf. is supplied to one headlight alone. By reason of the fact that all, the emf. generated is furnished 'to one headlight, a better light, sufficient for the needs of the driver will be obtained, even at low speeds of the engine. As soon as the motor speeds up and exceeds a predetermined rate of speed, the governor controlled switch will cut in the second headlight, thus dividing the, emf, lighting both headlights and preventing an overload to the first headlight; At a still higher speed, the governor controlled switch will cut in a third or signal light, indicating to the driver that a certain predetermined rate of speed is exceeded. v

The advantages of our system are, first, a fuller brilliancy of the filament of one headlight at speeds of five to ten miles per hour, giving adequate illumination to see rough roads and'bad places to get the car through. As, with increasing speed of the engine, the emf. of the generator increases it is taken care of by the governor controlled switch diverting one-half of the currentto flow through the second headlight, thereby furnishing substantially the same degree of brilliancy of illumination in each light on the road at all speeds. Then the enginespeedis excessive, the signal lamp, preferablyhaving'a red glass globe and lo cated on the dash board, is cutin by our switch, indicating that such predetermined speed has been exceeded.

Our invention is especially designed to be used with the engine of a Ford automobile which is connected to a dynamo supplying current to the ignition and the illumination system. These systems are connected in parallel and when the lights are on and the engine is running at a low speed, too much of the current is diverted through the lights, because of the lessened resistance and, consequently the ignition system fails to function properly, causing theengine to miss.

WVith our invention, we automatically provide for proper resistance in the illumination circuit by automatically diverting the current in the illumination system to but one headlight, thereby insuring suflicient pressure to produce a proper functioning of the ignition system. y

A further object is to provide a combined electric current governor and, multiple switch which will be simple in construction and inexpensive in manufacturing cost.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated, by way of .example, in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view illustrating' the forward end of anautomobile and particularly discloses the application of the automatic gine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged planview in section and elevation illustratingthe governor in a detailed manner. 7

Fig. 3 is a View in diagram illustrating the governor to the automobile enwiring of the various vital elements of the Referring more particularly to the'drawings, indicates an internal combustion engine and is here shown as mounted within an automobile. The engine 10 is fitted with an electric generating set or dynamo 11 which in the present instance is embodled 1n the engine design. This dynamo serves to supply the automobile with electric current for ignition and illumination, connected in parallel, the illumination system belng 111 turn composed of three circuits connected in parallel. I

The ignition system 7 O and the headlight 12 are not controlled by the switch, except that part of the current furnished thereto will be successively diverted to the headlight 13 andthe signal light 63 as the engine increases its speed. For this purpose, an automatic governor 14 is provided and it is the construction of this governor with which the present invention. is concerned. The governor is formed with a bifurcated frame member 15 which has outwardly extending arcuate arms formed with alined bearings 16 and 17 adapted to rotatably secure the shaft 18 of the governor. The frame member 15 is formed with a centrally disposed boss 19 adapted to be engaged by the threaded shank 20 of a mounting stud 21 by which it is secured at a convenientv point 011 the engine house, and in a manner to dispose the shaft 18 horizontally and drive pulley 22 in driving engagement with the belt, 23 driven by a pulley 24 secured to the fan spindle.

The shaft 18 is. tubular and is secured against longitudinal movement by means of a collar 25. held in place upon the shaft and against the inner face of bearing 17 by a set screw 26 and a governor loracket 27 held against the inner face of bearing 16 and upon the shaft by set screws 28. The governor bracket 27 is formed with a pair of diametrically disposed bearings 29 and 30 which are in alinement at right angles to the shaft and support, by means of pins 31 and 32, a pair of governor weights 33 and 34. These weights afe here shown as formed in the shape of balls which depend upon the pins 31 and 32 and-are provided with inwardly extending forked levers 35 and 36 which bear upon a sliding collar 37 mounted upon the shaft18. The collar 37 is held in position against the under face of levers 35 and 36eby means of a coil spring 38 which bears betweenadjacent faces of-the collars 25 and 37, respectively It is evident thatrotation of the shaft 18 will cause the weights 33 and 34 to swing outwardly from their aXis of rotation and to move the slidable collar 37 along the shaft 18 by means of the forked levers 35 and This movement is transmitted to a plunger rod 39 which reciprocates within the bore of the shaft 18 when the collar 37 moves downwardly, this collar being suitably secured by a pin 40 to the upper end of the plunger rod. The pin 40 is free to move along a slot 41 formed through the tubular wall of the shaft 18. The movement of the plunger 39 is effected in the direction indicated by arrow (t in Fig. 2 when the engine is running, and will press against a primar Y resilient switch finger, 42 which is mounted, upon an insulated block 43 secured by screws 44 to the frame 15. F urthcr movement in the directionofthe arrow will cause the contact point 45 upon the primary finger 42 to bear against a contact point 46 upon a secondary resilient switch finger 47 and thereby complete a secondary electric circuit which will be hereafter described.

The resilient switch fingers 42 and 47 act in relation to the plunger rod 39 to-producc electric circuits which will now be described by reference to Fig. 3 of the drawing in which 11 indicates the dynamo which is directly connected with the engine and which has one of its poles grounded by means of a conductor 48. The other pole of the dynamo connects by a conductor. 49 to one binding post 50 of a switch 51. The other binding post 52 connects by a conductor 53 to the pole 54- of'the search light 12, the pole 55 of which is grounded by conductor 56. A conductor 57 is connected with the conductor 53 and led to the binding post 58 of search light 13. The other binding post. of this light is connected by a. conductor 59 to binding post 60 of the switch fingerv 42. Theswitch finger 47 is connected at its bindingpost 61 witha conductor 62 which passes to one, terminal of asign'al light 63 conveniently positioned upon the dash-boardof the vehicle. The otherterminal of the, light 63 is connected by a conductor 64 to the conductor53 attached to the switch. To complete the various circuits the frame of the governor is also grounded. When the switch 51 is closed the headlight 12 isalways in circuit with the dynamo 11, and the headlight 13 and the signal light 63 are normally out of circuit by virtue of thebreaks between the parts 39, 42 and 47.

In the operation of this device the engine will of course first be started at a slow rate of speed and will actuate the, pulley 24 on fanshaft by a customary transmission.

-The light 12 will burn, but the lights 13 and 63 will not burn at the slow speed .of the engine. This pulleywill drive the belt 23 and. in turn rotate the governor pulley 22. The

rotation of the governor pulley will cause rotation of the shaft 18 to which the governor bracket 27 is mounted. As the shaft rotates above a certain speed the weights 33 and 3 1 will be centrifugally thrown outwardly in the directions indicated by the arrows b upon Fig. 2 of the drawings. This movement will force the sliding collar 37 downwardly upon the shaft by means of the forked lever arms and 3G and will force the plunger rod 39 downwardly by the pin 10 with which it is secured to the slidable collar. The downward movement of the plunger rod in the direction of the arrow 7 -a will cause it to encounter the spring finger 42. When contact is made between the point of the plunger rod 39 and the contact point upon the finger 12, the generator current will be divided and one-half of the current will pass from the dynamo through conductor 49 and the switch 51 to conductor 53 and from thence to the lamp 13 by means of conductor 57 after which it will pass along conductor 59 through the contact finger 42 to the plunger 39 where it will return through ground connections and conductor 48 to the dynamo 11, the other portion of the current passing through conductor 53 and the lamp 12 to the ground by means of conductor 56, thus producing complete electric circuits through both headlights.

As the speed of the engine increases above a certain point and the governor accelerates the plunger rod 39 will'be further depressed and will cause the spring finger 42 to yield and alternately bring its contact point A5 in conjunction with the contact point 46 on the spring finger 47. This movement does not break the former circuits passing through the headlights 12 and 13 but connects the signal light 63 to the circuit by means of a conductor 62 interposed between the finger and one terminal of the signal light 63 and a conductor 64 which is energized from the dynamo by way of conductor 53, switch 51 and conductor 19. By this arrangement there in sulficient resistance in the lighting system when the engine is running at low speeds by causing the current to pass through headlight 12 alone whereby the proper functioning of the ignition system 7 0 is insured. The ignition circuit is parallel with the light circuits and it is obvious Y that when the generator emf. is weak, as at a speed of five to ten miles an hour, cutting out the lights 13 and 63 will strengthen the ignition circuit by reducing the flow through the light circuit. Furthermore, an overload on headlight 12 is prevented by the cutting in of the circuit operating headlight 13. At excessive speeds and the consequent increase in circuit, a burning out of the filaments of the headlights is avoided by the cutting in of danger signal light 63, thereby further distributing the current and indicating to the driver that an excessive speed has been attained.

It will thus be seen that the governor here provided will insure a proper distribution of electric pressure for the proper functioning of the illumination and of the ignition systems at varying speeds of the engine. At low speeds, but one headlight is operated, furnishing sufficient illumination for the driver. Athigher speeds, both headlights are operated, and at excessive speeds, the signal lamp is operated.

While We have shown the preferred form of our apparatus as now known to us, it will be understood that various changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention as claimed.

WVe claim:

1. The combination with an engineand a dynamo driven thereby, a pair of head lights electrically connected to said dynamo, a signal light adapted to be electrically connected to said dynamo, all of said lights being connected in parallel, and one of said headlights being constantly connected and the other of said headlights and said signal light being normally disconnected, means directly controlled by the speed of the engine whereby the normally disconnected headlight Will be illuminated throughout a given range of engine speed, and means whereby both the headlights and the signal lights will be illuminated when an excessive predetermined engine speed has been reached.

2. The combination with an engine adapted to run at a variable speed and hav ing a dynamo connected therewith, electric conductors connected in parallel with said dynamo and a plurality of lamps, each connected to one of said conductors, and an engine operated governor, a governor operated switch adapted to successively close the circuits of the lamps as the speed of the engine increases and hold them in their closed positions, and to successively open the circuits of said lamps as the speed of the engine decreases.

3. The combination with an automobile engine, a dynamo connected therewith, an ignition circuit and a plurality of lamp circuits connected to said dynamo, all of said circuits being connected in parallel, an engine operated governor, a governor operated switch adapted to control all but one of said lamp circuits, said switch being adapted to successively close the circuits of the switch controlled lamps as the speed of the engine increases, and hold them in their closed positions, and to successively open the circuits of said switch controlled lamps as the speed of the engine decreases.

4. The combination with an automobile engine adapted to run at variable speeds and having a dynamo connected therewith, an ignition circuit, a first headlight circuit, a second headlight circuit, a signal, light circuit, all of said circuits being in parallel and connected to said dynamo, an engine operated governor, a governor operated switch for closing said second headlightand 'dan: ger signal light circuitsas the speed of the engine increases and holding them in their closed positions, and to successively-open the circuits of said danger signal light and said second headlight as the speed of the engine decreases.

5. The combination of an automobile engine adapted to run at a variable speed and having a dynamo connected therewith, a first headlight circuit, a second headlight circuit, a danger signal light circuit, said circuits being in parallel and connected to said dynamo, an engine operated governor, and a governor operated switch .for controlling said second headlight and said danger signal light circuits, said switch being adapted to successively close the circuits of the second headlight and the danger signal as the speed of the engine increases and hold them in their closed positions, and to successively open said danger signal light and said second headlight circuits as the speed of theengine decreases.

6. In an electric system for an automobile engine, a generator, an ignition circuit connected to the generator, a constant lightcircuit connected to the generator, a second light circuit normally disconnected. from the generator, a third light circuit normally disconnected from the generator, and a govlights until the engine exceeds .a second given speed and then cut in the third light; so that the electric energy produced at aloxv speed is cut out from flowing through the second and third lights, thereby strengthening the ignition circuit, and'so that'as the speed increases a consumption of energy by the lights is increased and divided so as to prevent overload of the first light.

7. In an electric system for an. automobile engine, an electric generator, an ignition circuit including said generator, a constant light circuit including the generator, a sec: ond light circuit in parallel with the c011- stant I light circuit and normally disconnccted from the generator, a signal circuit in parallel with said constant and second circuits and normally disconnected from the generator, a governor driven from the au tomobile engine by which, the generator is driven, and a double contact switchactuated bythe governor as it accelerates to suecessively establish the second-named light circuit and the signal light circuit whereby they willbe held intheirclosed conditions and will be successively broken as the speed of the governor decreases.

In testimonywhereof we have signed our names to this specification.

SETH MULVANEY. ELMO LOUIS BORNER.

Gi les this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D; 0." I 

